Justin Thomas puts Tiger Woods fan on blast after terrible insult

FORT WORTH, Texas – There were plenty of hand waves Tuesday as PGA TOUR pros said hello to fellow competitors that they had not seen for three months. Handshakes, of course, are not acceptable in the COVID-19 environment, so a friendly gesture from social distance must suffice. That’s not to say, however, that fist and elbow bumps also completely disappeared. Playing partners finishing their practice rounds at Colonial just couldn’t help themselves. It felt so good to return to work, to prepare once again for a tournament, that 6-foot rules were occasionally violated. “People need to realize that some mistakes will happen because we’re so used to a routine that it’s going to be hard to just be constantly aware of the situation we’re living in,â€� said Jon Rahm. “At some point somebody is going to slip. Somebody is going to fist bump.â€� For the golf world, the Charles Schwab Challenge marks the first time TOUR pros have gathered en masse since March 12, the first round of THE PLAYERS Championship. After the rest of the TOUR’s signature event was canceled as the coronavirus pandemic took hold, the 2019-20 season also was suspended … until this week. Excited to get back into action, many players arrived at Colonial on Monday to go through the on-site protocols and get in some practice time. Rahm was not one of them. One hour into his flight on a private plane, Rahm realized his golf bag and suitcases had not been loaded. So the pilot turned the plane around and headed back to Arizona. Load the bags, refuel the jet, and take off again. It threw off Rahm’s entire schedule. But he just shrugged. Even in the new normal, old nuisances can still happen. “It’s not the first time that a suitcase gets forgotten,â€� he said. “Travel inconveniences are extremely common. It’s kind of like, welcome to life again, right? Where things can go wrong. You can do nothing but laugh about it.â€� Rahm wasn’t laughing, though, early Tuesday morning when he underwent the mandatory testing for players. The 6-inch cotton nasopharyngeal swab hurt more than expected. “I’m not going to lie,â€� he said. “I think it was pretty far up your nose.â€� Despite the COVID-19 fears and the uncomfortable tests (as of Tuesday morning, no players or caddies had tested positive) and the underlying nervousness that permeates our daily lives now, seeing players laugh and smile and just enjoy being back inside the ropes should lift the spirts of all golf fans watching from afar this week. There was Jim Furyk, who just turned 50, sharing a story with Bud Cauley, 20 years his junior, while the two were practicing their chipping. Furyk’s longtime caddie, Fluff Cowan, kept his hands in his pockets, his way of curtailing the urge to toss golf balls to his man. There was Billy Horschel and Danny Willett, trying to decide who was going to putt on a particular hole on the practice green. “Are you going to use this right now?â€� Horschel asked. There was Jordan Spieth with his longtime friend Kramer Hickok against Colonial members Ryan Palmer and Franklin Corpening in a friendly nine-hole match. Spieth won the Charles Schwab Challenge in 2016, but the local knowledge paid off for the members, who “won a little bit,â€� said Palmer. The match has becoming something of an annual tradition among the four, so it was a good thing to rekindle. “That sense of normalcy was nice to have today that we haven’t had in three months,â€� noted Palmer, who has the honor of hitting the opening tee shot Thursday. There was Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson – partners in the recent TaylorMade Driving Relief charity match – checking out something on DJ’s phone while standing on the 10th tee box as they waited for the fairway to clear. Whatever it was, they were clearly enjoying it. Even though the general public is not allowed on-site this week, that doesn’t mean there aren’t fans in attendance. Corpening, who played collegiately at nearby TCU and received a sponsor’s exemption this week, is making his fourth TOUR start of his career. Each one has been at Colonial, where his family are long-time members and where he’s worked in a variety of roles when not in the field. “Rory is my favorite player,â€� Corpening told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “I love his action. I’m going to sit on the top putting green just so I can watch him tee off or hit some balls. That’s where we all want to be — No. 1 in the world.â€� For others on-site, no fans means being able to listen to exchanges and conversations that might otherwise be drowned out, like Brooks Koepka – sporting a bushy mustache — talking about a particular hairstyle Tuesday in between putting practice. And no grandstands nor hospitality tents means getting an unique look at Colonial, which has hosted an annual PGA TOUR event since the 1940s, making it the longest-running non-major venue on TOUR. The compact, old-school layout can be appreciated in all its original glory. Standing near the 10th green Tuesday, you could see parts of at least seven holes on the back nine. In previous years, that 360 view would include several stands. “It’s awesome,â€� said Justin Thomas, getting his first up-close look at Colonial, as he had never been able to work it into his playing schedule in previous seasons. “It’s a place that I’ve always watched on TV and I love how it looks. It’s a fun tournament to watch.â€� In some ways, the new normal looked very much like the old one. Players working on their games, instructors nearby to offer advice. Volunteers in golf carts filled with water bottles scurrying around to resupply coolers on tee boxes. Leaderboards and videoboards in their usual spots. The fairways roped off – except for the crossover areas. Two security officers on bikes even accompanied McIlroy and DJ, even though no one was following the world’s No. 1 and No. 5 ranked players. It’s McIlroy’s first visit to Colonial; practicing in shorts, his bare legs seemed ripped from the pages of the latest fitness magazine thanks to all his recent Peleton work. But the reality is that golf is entering unchartered territory this week. Tests and protocols and social distancing and no fans and no high-fives and Jim Nantz in a booth (not even behind the 18th green) by himself. Maybe it’ll be a brief trip. Or maybe some things will be permanently changed. “You can’t go into this thing [saying] it’s going to be normal because it’s not,â€� Thomas said. “I would say 2020 is beyond a bizarre year so far, and especially in the world of sports — it’s just going to be different. ‘If we all want to get back and play the game that we love and not just for us but for the fans and everybody at home, we’re just going to have to get over the fact that it’s going to be different and be a little weird.â€� Weird, however, can be interesting. Different can be a positive. It’s just a matter of keeping an open mind. The good news is that the world’s best golfers are back in action this week. After 91 days, the time finally has arrived.

Click here to read the full article…

Shane Lowry earned his first career major victory at the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush. Here’s a look at Lowry’s equipment: Driver: Srixon Z-585 (9.5 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana White 70X Length: 45.25 inches (tipped 0.75 inches) Swing Weight: D3 3-Wood: TaylorMade M4 (15 degrees) Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD-DI 8X Irons: Srixon Z-U85 (18 and 21 degrees), Srixon Z-585 (4 and 5), Srixon Z-785 (6-PW) Shafts: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX (2-iron), KBS Tour 130X (3-PW) Wedges: Cleveland RTX-4 (50 bent to 51, and 58 degrees) Shafts: KBS Tour Wedge X Putter: Odyssey EXO Stroke Lab 2-Ball Grip: SuperStroke Traxion PistolGT 1.0 with custom shamrocks Golf Ball: Srixon Z-Star XV Pure White Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet 58 Round

Click here to read the full article…

Charley Hoffman and Phil Mickelson both hail from San Diego. They were teammates on last year’s Presidents Cup team. The comparisons usually stop there. Hoffman has a strong resume, one that many of his peers would be happy to have, but Mickelson is one of the most accomplished players in the history of the game.  Hoffman and Mickelson do share one more similarity, though. They are the only players to qualify for the BMW Championship in every season since the FedExCup’s inception in 2007. It’s an impressive display of consistency, requiring a top-70 finish in the FedExCup standings. Mickelson is 10th in this season’s standings. Next week’s tee time at Aronimink Golf Club outside Philadelphia is guaranteed, and he’s a safe bet to advance to the TOUR Championship for the ninth time in the FedExCup era. Hoffman’s BMW streak is in a much more precarious position. He is 75th in the FedExCup standings, 45 points behind No. 70 Kevin Streelman. Hoffman returns to a site of past success this week. He earned the second of his four PGA TOUR victories at TPC Boston in 2010, shooting a final-round 62 to win by five shots. Five years later, Hoffman shot a second-round 63 to take the 36-hole lead at TPC Boston. He finished third after shooting 76-67 on the weekend. “This is one of those courses you get on the tee, (it sets) up well, and the visuals are good. And I tend to make a few more putts than average for me out here on these greens, which is nice,â€� he said in 2015. Hoffman finished a career-best fourth in the FedExCup after winning at TPC Boston in 2010. He’s qualified for the TOUR Championship in two of the past three seasons, but now he has work to do to avoid the earliest exit of his FedExCup career.  Hoffman, the lone player to qualify for this year’s Playoffs without a top-10, began the postseason ranked 98th in the FedExCup. He jumped 23 spots with his 20th-place finish at THE NORTHERN TRUST.  He could have climbed even higher, though, if not for bogeys on two of his final three holes. He three-putted the final hole from 38 feet to drop five spots on the leaderboard. Only Bryce Molder (2013) and Ernie Els (2011) have made it to the third Playoffs stop without a top-10 finish, but Hoffman could join that short list. The projections say that a 25th-place finish could result in safe passage from Boston to Philadelphia. Hoffman has made the cut in 75 percent of his starts this season. He has nine top-25s but hasn’t finished better than his T12 at Augusta National. Another BMW start is still within reach, though. ODDS AND ENDS • Aaron Wise took the lead in the Rookie of the Year race with his fifth-place finish at THE NORTHERN TRUST. He leapt from 27th to 15th in the FedExCup standings, taking one step closer to the TOUR Championship. The T5 continued an interesting trend for Wise. In his last 10 starts, he has either missed the cut or finished in the top 6. That stretch includes a runner-up finish at Wells Fargo and AT&T Byron Nelson victory in back-to-back starts. He also finished T6 at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. Wise is 21 spots ahead of his fellow rookie, RSM Classic champion Austin Cook. Cook is just 48 points behind fellow Arkansas alum Andrew Landry, who holds the 30th spot in the FedExCup standings. Wise and Cook are the only rookies in the FedExCup’s top 70. Five rookies remain in the FedExCup Playoffs, though. RBC Heritage champion Satoshi Kodaira (85th in the FedExCup), Massachusetts native Peter Uihlein (83) and Keith Mitchell (78) also will play at TPC Boston. • Nick Watney was 102nd in the FedExCup at the start of the Playoffs. He needed to earn  points at last week’s THE NORTHERN TRUST just to keep his postseason alive. Watney’s T11 at Ridgewood guaranteed him a start at this week’s Dell Technologies Championship and put a return to Aronimink within reach. Aronimink, which is hosting next week’s BMW Championship, was the site of Watney’s win in the 2011 Quicken Loans National. Watney jumped 35 spots in the FedExCup standings last week to No. 67. He last played the BMW Championship in 2015. His THE NORTHERN TRUST finish was his second-best of the season. Watney was one of 10 players to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs with one or fewer top-10s this season. A runner-up finish at the Wells Fargo Championship, his best finish in three years, accounted for half of his 491 points in the regular season. Aronimink twice hosted the Quicken Loans National. Justin Rose earned the second of his nine PGA TOUR wins at Aronimink in 2010. He’s sixth in this season’s FedExCup standings. • The best shot of Bronson Burgoon’s career clinched the NCAA Championship. He hit a gap wedge within inches of the hole at Inverness’ 18th hole to give Texas A&M the 2009 NCAA Championship (Burgoon beat Landry in the championship’s clinching match).   “I play better when I’ve got a little bit of pressure on me. I always have,â€� Burgoon said Sunday. He proved it once again at THE NORTHERN TRUST. A Sunday 66 continued Burgoon’s rapid rise up the FedExCup standings.  He was 160th in the standings at the end of June, but finished T6-T30-T2 in his next three starts to crack the top 100. His T11 at THE NORTHERN TRUST moved him from 111th to 73rd in the FedExCup standings. Sunday was a good day for Texas A&M Aggies. His former teammate, Andrea Pavan, won his first European Tour title in a final-round showdown with Padraig Harrington. Pavan also was on that 2009 title team. Burgoon made the cut at Ridgewood with just a shot to spare, then shot 67-66 on the weekend. Only THE NORTHERN TRUST winner Bryson DeChambeau (63-69) shot lower over the final 36 holes.

Click here to read the full article…